BY THE NUMBERS
Futures were lower this morning. The Dow and S&P 500 did break a three-week losing streak last week. The Nasdaq fell for a third straight week and both the S&P 500 and Nasdaq are on pace to post their largest monthly losses since January 2016. (CNBC)
* China stocks surge more than 4 percent (CNBC)
* Cramer: How investors can use earnings to their advantage in this sell-off (CNBC)
The busy earnings week starts off somewhat slowly with Halliburton (HAL), Hasbro (HAS), and Kimberly-Clark (KMB). Rambus (RMBS), TD Ameritrade (AMTD), Vertex Pharmaceuticals, and Zions Bancorp (ZION) are among the companies releasing their numbers after today's closing bell. (CNBC)
IN THE NEWS TODAY
Turkey's President Recep Tayyip Erdogan announced today that he would use a speech to his country's parliament tomorrow to reveal all the "details" in the killing of the Saudi Arabian journalist Jamal Khashoggi. (USA Today)
* US tries to uphold Saudi ties despite lawmakers' pressure (WSJ)
* Trump's magic math on jobs from the Saudi arms deal (Axios)
The New York Times reported the Trump administration is considering defining gender as a biological, immutable condition determined by genitalia at birth, an effort to roll back recognition and protections of transgender people.
President Donald Trump is expected to sign later this week Congress' recently passed opioids legislation, which would ease limits on Medicaid funding for addiction treatment and expand access to medication-assisted treatments. (Axios)
Chinese state media over the weekend slammed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's comments in South America, where he cautioned against vast China's investments in the region, saying his remarks were "ignorant and malicious." (CNBC)
Trump has turned one familiar feature of mid-term election campaigns inside out: Democrats are now more likely to vote than Republicans. That finding emerges from the new NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll just two weeks before Election Day.
CBS (CBS) interim chairman Richard Parsons has stepped down from that position due to ill health. The former Time Warner CEO will be replaced by Take-Two Interactive (TTWO) CEO Strauss Zlenick, whojoined the CBS board last month. (NY Times)
* CBS should hire a woman as its new CEO (CNBC)
In conversations with current and former Tesla (TSLA) employees, CEO Elon Musk is described as a polarizing figure who inspires but micromanages to an extreme. Musk has been known to approve expensive projects against advice. (CNBC)
Apple (AAPL) CEO Tim Cook is calling for Bloomberg to retract its story about Chinese spy chips embedded in the company's server equipment, telling Buzzfeed News in an interview, "This did not happen. There's no truth to this."
STOCKS TO WATCH
Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (REGN) and Sanofi (SNY) have received FDA approval to use their Dupixent drug to treat asthma. The drug is already approved for the treatment of eczema.
Fiat Chrysler (FCAU) agreed to sell its Magneti Marelli auto parts unit to Japan's Calsonic Kansei for $7.1 billion. Calsonic is owned by U.S. private equity firm KKR (KKR).
Jacobs Engineering (JEC) is selling its energy, chemicals and resources unit to Australian engineering services firm WorleyParsons for $3.3 billion. Jacobs said it is focusing on its higher growth businesses.
General Electric (GE) and Germany's Siemens have both signed agreements to rebuild Iraq's power infrastructure.
Chipotle Mexican Grill (CMG) was upgraded to "outperform" from "sector perform" at RBC Capital, which expects the restaurant chain to benefit from changes in its menu and its digital and delivery systems in 2019.
Caesars Entertainment (CZR) plans to reject a reported takeover offer from Golden Nugget owner Tilman Fertitta, according to the New York Post.
WATERCOOLER
Between the $1.6 billion Mega Millions jackpot and Powerball's $620 million haul, more than $2.2 billion is up for grabs in the next drawings. The chance of winning Mega Millions is 1 in 302.6 million. For Powerball, it's 1 in 292 million. (CNBC)
"Halloween" made a killing in North America this weekend, earning $77.5 million when the slasher film launched in 3,928 locations. The direct sequel to John Carpenter's 1978 classic obliterated the franchise record opening of $26 million. (Reuters)